Veronica With Four Eyes
A couple of months ago, one of my friends with low vision was trying to troubleshoot their iPad and needed to call Apple to figure out how to resolve an issue. They were nervous about calling though, because they didn’t want to wait on hold…
Recently, I was talking to a faculty mentor about interesting reading apps for kids, and the app Novel Effect came up as a great way to encourage students to read books, stories, and poems out loud. While I’ve always felt fairly comfortable with reading text…
One day while I was interning at a major technology company, I turned on my computer to discover that about half of my program icons had disappeared on my home screen, but were still visible in high contrast mode. I asked another employee to take…
When I had to re-register for several classes and change my schedule during my fourth semester of college, I thought it would be a good idea to set up an alarm on my phone that would go off every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day,…
Be My Eyes is one of the most well-known free mobile applications for blind and low vision users, and it was one of the first visual interpreting applications I ever tried when I started practicing independent living skills for college. Be My Eyes connects blind…
While studying for my bachelor’s degree in data science and running a blog in college, I had to learn several different programming languages and how they are used, including Java, Python, HTML, CSS, SQL, and several others. One of my most used study resources was…
When I was in high school, my Computer Information Systems teacher hosted an Hour of Code event to encourage students to try a new programming language. While I already had an interested in computers and programming, a lot of introductory activities for programming I’d encountered…
I’ve been using Twitter for a few years now, and it’s been exciting to see so many new accessibility features be added over the years to make Twitter an even more accessible place for people with low vision. Here are my most used Twitter accessibility…
How I use Aira smart glasses in college with low vision and how they have helped me travel independently
I recently went on a weeklong trip to Austin, Texas where I had the opportunity to visit several different museums, speak at Texas School for the Blind, try lots of amazing delicious food, and attend other events related to low vision and assistive technology. I…
Several of my friends enjoy playing audio games for blind/low vision gamers, which use 3D audio/binaural audio and other audio engineering techniques to create an immersive gaming experience that prioritizes sound over visuals. Since there isn’t a dedicated audio game category on most app stores…
Virtual reality technology has been changing how many different industries present and interpret information, and education is no exception. While it may not be feasible to travel halfway around the world to visit a museum or landmark, it’s certainly easy to find an app or…
Many years ago, I used to find talking to any and all technical support numbers to be a frustrating experience. In many cases, the person on the other end of the line was unable to see what was on my screen, and because I have…
A few days ago, I was wearing a dress that didn’t have pockets large enough to fit my cell phone. My friend offered to hold my phone for me so that I could still have a free hand while using my blindness cane and not…
One of my all-time favorite tools for reading digital content with low vision is a simplified reading display, which applies a consistent font size, font style, and background color to digital text. This makes it easier to read content without having to zoom in on…